End of Days
by aboywhowantedtobegod
Summary: Apocalypse AU. When a zombie virus strikes the world of Remnant by surprise, team RWBY and their friends must do whatever it takes to survive. With the world falling apart around them, they must summon all their strength to survive in a world torn apart by chaos. Rated M for horror, violence and implied smut. Cover art is a photoshopped image done by me. *ON HIATUS*
1. Chapter 1: Our Time before the End

_(Summary: The final night before the virus strike. Contains freezerburn and ladybug fluff.)_

Yang took a step back and gave herself a mental pat on the back for her effort. The flat her and her girlfriend shared was almost unrecognizable. Since Weiss had to stay late at the Schnee Dust Corporation Vale offices, Yang took it upon herself to surprise her girlfriend on their fifth year anniversary by cleaning the whole apartment. Between Weiss taking over the company, and Yang's responsibilities as fully fledged huntress, the apartment rarely ever had an opportunity to get cleaned. The final room on her agenda – the lounge/ dining room – was finally in order. The dishes that almost towered on the counter tops had been cleaned and put away, the polished wood floor was mopped and hovered, and the couch had been cleaned with the handheld hoover. Yang even went as far as to sorting out the different films and video games into a neat alphabetical order on the small shelf that sat below the television.

But that was not all Yang had planned to do for her lover.

The table they used to eat at was like a scene from a clichéd romantic comedy. The only source of light came from the tall lit candles that sat in the middle of the table. Yang brought out the finest plates, china, and silverware reserved only for when Weiss' family was visiting. She even went as far as cracking out her extraordinary cooking abilities, which she only ever did for special occasions. This particular dish was a roast chicken and a side of vegetables. Yang also made a dark chocolate sauce to go with the chicken, which she had wanted to do for a while, after watching a cooking show that piqued her fancy. Also, on the other side of the room, on the coffee table by the couch, sat a few individually wrapped presents, ranging from little in-jokes to expensive jewellery she had spent ages saving up for. Yang smiled to herself, happy with her hard work. However, Weiss' most special present currently sat in a small velvet box in the pocket of her jeans.

But her self congratulating came to a screeching halt when she heard her dog Zwei scuttle towards the front door and started yapping excitedly.

That could only mean one thing.

Weiss was home.

As if on queue, Yang heard a beep to signal someone scanning their scroll against the scanner outside the door, and the click of a door handle. Speed walking to the hallway, carefully closing the door between the hallway and living room, so that Weiss couldn't see what Yang had done. Turning around, Yang smiled at what she saw.

Weiss had changed much of her attire since their days at Beacon, swapping her heeled boots and combat skirt for low heeled shoes and white business trousers. She even wore a matching white shirt, and white suit jacket, accompanied by a red tie. The only thing that Weiss still wore from the old days was her coat. However, back when she used to button it up all the time, it hung open. Her whole figure was wet from the slight rain outside. She put her coat on a hook, before sliding the bobble out of her hair and bent down to pet Zwei, smiling at Yang when she met her gaze, finally walking over to Yang, standing on her tip toes to meet her girlfriend's lips.

"Hey baby," Yang purred, "how was work?"

"Simply riveting," Weiss droned out in a voice heavily laced with sarcasm. "Just a bunch of old men talking over nothing,"

"So the usual then?"

Weiss nodded. Yang looked further down at Weiss, her gaze focusing on the scarlet tie which Weiss was currently loosening. Then she had an idea.

"I need to borrow this,"

"Wha-?!" Before Weiss could finish her sentence, Yang skilfully stole the long piece of silk fabric, danced around Weiss and tied it around her eyes with a practised hand.

"Unhand me, you brute!" shrieked Weiss, flailing her arms, attempting to pull off the tie or get her hands on Yang. Yang dodged her girlfriend's flailing arms, giggling like a mad man. All the while, Zwei danced around his parent's, yapping happily, thinking they were all playing a game.

"Stop moving! It's for a thing I need to show you!"

"If this is one of your sex games-"

"SHHHH! Don't use that word in front of our baby!" Yang protested, bending down slightly to scratch Zwei's head, while easily keeping a hold of the tie wrapped around Weiss' head, silently thanking the height difference between them. Weiss sighed, finally stopping her wild erratic movements.

"What are you doing then?"

"Hold on," Yang picked up Weiss' small form easily, the only protest she felt from her came in the form of a small yelp of surprise. Walking slowly towards the living room, she opened the door while easily keeping a hold of her shorter girlfriend, who had now wrapped her arms around the back of Yang's neck. Finally reaching the living room, Yang put Weiss on the ground and untied the makeshift blindfold around her head. She stepped back slightly to see the reaction on her girlfriend.

It was more than she could have hoped for.

The extensive cleaning Yang had went through had brought a huge smile on Weiss' face, only just noticing the presents on the coffee table. Yang took Weiss' distracted attention to pull out the velvet box out of her pocket as quietly as she could, and drop down to one knee, just as she started to turn around.

"Please don't tell me you hired a cleaner to –" As soon as she saw Yang on one knee, she stopped mid sentence. Yang cleared her throat and began into her speech.

"Weiss, ever since I met you all those years ago, I knew there was something special about you. And I just wanted to thank you. You have brought such joy and happiness into my life, and I love you and I'm thankful for every moment you chose to spend with me. Weiss Schnee…" Yang pulled out the velvet box and opened it.

"Will you marry me?"

Weiss stood there, dumbfounded. She was looking down at a thin silver ring, a blue tinted diamond sitting comfortably in the middle. Weiss looked past the box, towards the girl that held it. Her eyes were misty and gleaming with hope. She dropped down to the floor and wrapped Yang up in a hug, which she willingly accepted.

"Yang, of course I will!" Weiss let out a little laugh and was surprised when she found tears of joy streaming down her face. She hadn't cried in years. She was even more surprised when she felt tears hit her head. She pulled away slightly. Yang was smiling hard, her usual trademark grin larger than ever. Additionally, she saw Yang's lilac eyes, soft and gently, filled with tears. She kissed the two tear streaks that ran down under Yang's eyes, and looked at her.

"Why are you crying?"

"Am I?" Yang giggled. She took a hand and wiped both of her eyes, only to laugh a little more.

"Shit, so I am," Yang looked hard at Weiss and her smile only grew more. "I don't know, I'm just so happy. And I didn't think you would say yes and –"

Weiss took Yang's chin and tilted herself forward, planting her lips hard against her lovers. She took a few seconds to enjoy the feel of the lips she wished to spend the rest of her life memorizing, to savour the taste as if it was the last thing she would ever taste. Finally, she reluctantly pulled away, and fell back into Yang's arms.

"Now why would I do that?"

Weiss and Yang just sat there for the longest time, held in each other's arms. Yang just gently rocked Weiss' body, as Weiss closed her eyes and just listened gently to Yang's heart beat. A sweet rhythmic melody that threatened to lull Weiss to sleep. If it wasn't for the fact that reality was better than her dreams – and had been ever since Yang first told her she loved her – she would have fell into unconsciousness. Finally, Yang pulled away, looking deep into her fiancé's eyes.

"So, what do you want first? Presents or dinner?"

**oo0oo**

Blake peered across the room at Ruby, who was currently violently mashing a button on a quick time event at whatever video game she was playing, smiling devilishly. Ruby had her tongue stuck out in concentration and violently groaned as her character got electrocuted on screen, only to have a "mission failed" message pop up on her screen. The frustrated and angry sound that came out of Ruby probably shouldn't have turned on Blake.

But oh, did it.

Ruby hit the restart button and a cut scene from a comic book, as a women started talking. Ruby groaned again in annoyance and proceeded to bark at the screen.

"Shut up! Just let me get on with the god damn game!"

As though answering her plea, Ruby's character started getting brutally shocked again, and again, Ruby tapped the triangle button with all her fury. However, it seemed her efforts were fruitless, as her character again suffered a violent death, revealing the same message. Ruby dropped her controller, and put her head in her hands, exhaling loudly. Blake rolled her eyes, and strolled towards Ruby's bent figure, standing behind Ruby.

"You seem stressed, babe,"

"I am, screw this game!" Ruby snapped out. While most spouses would have taken it as a message to back off, Blake simply put her hands on Ruby's shoulder, rubbing with careful pressure applied. It got its intended effect, with Ruby's tense shoulders suddenly easing up considerably.

"You need to relax, Rubes,"

Blake leant forward and gently planted a kiss on Ruby's exposed neck, not stopping her gentle rubbing motions on her shoulders. This elicited a soft gasp, which was all it took to set off Blake. With lighting fast speed that would have put Ruby's semblance to the test, she leapt over the couch, simultaneously pushing Ruby down so she lay on her back, holding back her strength so as not to hurt her girlfriend. As soon as Ruby was on her back, Blake straddled Ruby, and took her chin in a single hand, planting a soft kiss on Ruby's lips. She pulled back, looking at Ruby's priceless reaction. Her face, once contorted in stress, was now relaxed and playful. She had a small smile and her eyes shone with eagerness.

"How about you give the game a break and relax with me?" Blake purred, playfully slipping of Ruby's zip up hoodie. Blake yelped in surprise as Ruby picked her girlfriend up and flipped her around, so that Ruby was on top. She still had that playful smile on her face as she kissed at Blake's neck.

"Yeah. Was getting tired of it anyway," Ruby sat up as she started unbuttoning Blake's shirt. Blake looked up at Ruby as she undid every button with ease.

Oh Ruby Rose, Blake thought, you never could resist my charms.

**oo0oo**

Cinder paced around her cell, looking out through the cell's single window, out into the star lit sky. How she longed to be out there, in the night. Have the cool breeze against her face, to listen to the sounds around her, to feel the people around her. But she wouldn't. Not now, not ever again. She got sloppy. She got caught. And she wasn't the only one. Turning around, she looked in the interior behind her, taking in the few figures that were there. In the cell with her sat her team, all silent and contemplating the death that would await them come morning. Mercury and Roman lay on their bunks, just staring at the ceiling, hoping that some miracle could save them from being executed. Emerald simply sat at the edge of her bunk, looking down at the floor, numb and quiet as the rest of them. Emerald smiled humourlessly to herself.

So this is how the great thief Emerald ends, she thought to herself.

Cinder ignored them, and once again stared out into the night. She had always been so careful. Each of her plans were thought out to the last minor detail, every situation that gone wrong always had a back up plan, every failed opportunity an escape route. Cinder closed her eyes, her calm replaced suddenly by anger.

If it wasn't for team RWBY, they wouldn't be in this mess.

But, just as quickly as it appeared, Cinder stamped out the sparks of her rage, and went to her bunk, closing her eyes. If this was it and she was finally going to face death head on, she could at least let it come closer by falling into sleep, instead of pacing around her cell.

**oo0oo**

Blake stared down at Ruby, who was fast asleep in the double bed that they shared. After their passionate bout of sex in the living room, the couple decided to go to bed afterwards, with Ruby falling asleep first. Blake stroked ruby's hair as she slept peacefully beside her. Blake relished these moments. As Ruby's career as a huntress escalated, the cons of the job were starting to way down on her. Not by much, but enough for Blake to notice a slight shift in her younger love. She enjoyed it when the torments of the world couldn't touch Ruby and she slept peacefully. Leaning over, Blake planted a delicate kiss on Ruby's forehead, before laying back down and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

"Good night, Ruby. I love you." Whispered Blake, before falling asleep. Unbeknownst to her, the kiss raised Ruby ever so slightly, but just enough so that she was still in sleep's deep embrace and only barely woken. She smiled softly, and replied before falling back into darkness.

"Good night, Blake. I love you too."

_(Notes: Hey guys, so I am playing around with a few AU ideas and this is the first one I was able to write the first chapter for. So, one thing that I thought would be really cool was to write the night before the apocalypse, where everything is – in the words of the great Jeff Wayne – Rest in peace – a night where "it all seems so safe and tranquil". I also have a request for you guys. If any of you are aspiring artists, could I possible get a cover for this? And (if you want) my other stories? It would mean the world to me and I would love you forever. Also, the game Ruby is playing in the story is MGS: Peace Walker. The torture sequence in that game is a bitch. When I played it, I'm almost certain I burned my skin by how quickly and how many times I mashed that fucking button. Anyway, as always guys, hope you enjoy and adios!)_


	2. Chapter 2: Escape

**Day Zero**

Blake awoke to the faint sounds of screaming coming from outside the house. She got up out of bed, reaching for Gambol Shroud. Her days in the white fang were now a distant memory, but old habits die hard, and she still kept her loyal blade next to her nightstand. She peaked through the curtains and was taken aback at the scene she saw.

The mangled corpses of cars had been mashed together on the road just outside Blake and Ruby's home. The usual occasional pedestrian who usually passed through the couples neighbourhood to make their commute to work were sprinting in a state of frenzied panic, away from something.

Away from what, Blake couldn't be sure. She then looked down at herself. If she was going to investigate matters, she might as well get changed. Rushing back into the bedroom, she tore through her wardrobe for the first set of clothes she could find. All the ruckus awoke Ruby. Blake turned to her, and when she saw her sleepy smiling face, she couldn't help but return it.

"Good morning, lovely," Ruby whispered, snuggling into her pillow, but never taking her eyes off of Blake

"Morning, Ruby," Rushed Blake, remembering all the commotion outside. Ruby got out of bed and looked at Blake. Normally – unless they were on a mission – it was almost tradition to stay in bed for snuggles at the weekend. That rule was law in the house. Blake breaking this law and her worried demeanour was enough of a sign to tell Ruby that something was seriously wrong.

"What's going on, Blake?" Ruby asked, getting up out of bed, grabbing the blanket to cover herself for warmth. As though to answer her query, a violent crash and explosion sounded outside. Blake and Ruby rushed to the window and yanked back the curtains to see what was going on. What they saw were two cars that had crashed into other, both merely more than flaming wrecks. Instantly, Blake hooked her blade to her back as Ruby rushed towards the wardrobe to get changed, grabbing Crescent Rose in the process. Blake would have wanted to for Ruby to stay in the house and out of harm's way, but her red headed girlfriend was insanely stubborn and knew that she wanted to help the people who were running by outside.

That, and it was kind of in her job description as a huntress.

Ready, both of the women paced cautiously out the house, Blake with her blade in hand, Ruby with Crescent Rose in its folded up gun mode. The street was deserted. The fleeing citizens were few and the last one ran by when the crash happened. Apart from the sound of flames crackling and a slight wind blowing, the neighbourhood was eerily quiet.

"We have to report this to HQ," Ruby said in a serious voice. Blake admired the professionalism in the woman. During her down time whenever she was relaxing and not on a mission, she would still act like the same hyperactive cheery girl as when they met at Beacon six years ago. However, whenever the job demanded attending, that girl was gone. Her only thoughts would be about the mission at hand and getting her team home safe.

Just then, out of the periphery of her vision, Blake noticed something. A movement. She turned and saw a man. He was half leaning over, as if his head were top heavy and it lolled to the side. His clothes were torn, his whole figure was streaked in blood and dirt. Blake lowered her blade, but didn't slide back into its holster. Ruby turned around and noticed him too. She too lowered her weapon but didn't put it away: though this man could've been a simple civilian, experience taught her and Blake that dropping your guard at the wrong moment could result in either of their deaths.

"EXCUSE ME, SIR! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Blake shouted across the street to catch the man's attention. He slowly started to shamble around and looked at Blake and Ruby, who were both shocked at the site before them. They had seen a lot of things during their time. They had stopped terrorists, quelled riots, ended wars before they had a chance to begin, massacred all manner of Grimm, but they never got used to some of the sights they had seen, and this was no different. As far as they could tell, the man was human. However, his eyes had no pupils and were the palest shade of blue. His face looked as though he had met the business end of a lawnmower, and the skin on one side of his face was torn, revealing red flesh underneath. How this man continued to stand was beyond Blake and Ruby. Slowly, he started to shamble towards Blake and Ruby. Ruby pointed her gun at the man, but didn't fire.

"SIR, STAY CALM! FREEZE WHERE YOU ARE!" Ruby shouted, her eye looking down the sight at the man's legs. He ignored her call and continued towards Blake, gradually picking up speed, now going at a fast trudge.

"I SAID FREEZE!" Ruby warned yet again. Still he didn't listen, and this time Blake aimed her pistol at the man for a non lethal takedown, aiming for the legs.

"SIR, THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!" Blake finally announced. Still, he advanced, forcing Ruby and Blake to take action. Both fired a single shot, tearing through the flesh of both his legs. A normal man would have fallen to floor and be rolling around in pain, but he would have not been a threat to the girls. However, this…thing kept on walking towards them as though he had simply stumbled on a loose rock and regained his posture. Blake and Ruby fired a second time, to little success. He was now merely a few feet and was going to take a lunge at Blake. Ruby half panicked but maintain her composure. She fired a single shot at the man's chest. The round took a decent chunk of flesh out of the chest area. Still, he soldiered on, only a few steps from Blake. This time, Ruby made an executive decision and took a headshot at the man, fearing for her girlfriend's life. Finally, the man stopped, and dropped to the floor. He landed on the floor with a wet flop at Blake's feet, a small pool of blood beginning to form where the girls had fired on him. Blake was slightly shocked at Ruby's action, but also understood her. When you had spent as much time together as Ruby and Blake had, you begin to understand the thinking process behind the other, and she knew Ruby was terrified if anything happened to her. However, the gunshots had drawn the attention of other torn up people, their skin damaged in different places and in differing stages of degradation. Blake and Ruby ran to their home and got in the small car they had shared.

"What should we do?" Blake asked. Ruby made a quick thought. She could report the situation to headquarters, but then she remembered about her half sister Yang and her partner Weiss. Ruby doubted what had just happened was an isolated incident, and she had to make sure they were alright.

"We are going into the city,"

**oo0oo**

Yang woke with a gentle start and a soft smile on her face. After dinner and spoiling her fiancé, Weiss and Yang retired to their bedroom for naked cuddles. Yang smiled harder. Naked cuddles are the best cuddles, she thought.

She then heard her hairy child going crazy, yapping madly and running around. This concerned her. Though he was a hyperactive ball of fur, he was usually well behaved within the confines of their home. This made Yang get out of bed – though she would rather stay in with Weiss – and go to the living room, to find Zwei. He had hopped on the windowsill and was growling at the window. Yang went to tell him off, but as she neared the window, she noticed what was going on. It was a scene straight from an apocalypse film. Vehicles were reduced to flaming wrecks, people running and shambling across the streets, the sounds of gunshots blending with the screams of the panicked public. Instantly, the huntress in her took over and she sprinted into her bedroom to get ready for action. As she busted in, she noticed her scroll vibrating softly. She picked it up and saw that Ruby was trying to get a hold of her. Instantly, she answered without hesitation.

"Ruby?"

"Yang?! Oh thank god, I've been trying to get a hold of you for a while. Something bad has happened." Ruby half shouted down the phone.

"I know, I see it," Said Yang, peeking through the curtains, grimacing at the ensuing chaos that was taking place below.

"Ok. Now listen to me. You and Weiss need to get out of the city. Blake and I are headed out to the city. You guys need to get out of there while you can. Get away on bumblebee if you can. Otherwise, stay in the apartment."

Yang was shocked. As a huntress, it was her duty to help the people, and she simply refused to sit here and do nothing.

"Ruby, I-"

"Yang, I have already contacted Ozpin, Ironwood, the hunter headquarters, and an effort is already being made to evacuate surviving citizens from the cities and towns. I am begging, do not try and help anyone. Get Weiss and Zwei and try to get out. If you can't, you wait for us. Do you understand?" Ruby pleaded. Yang felt heartbroken at the tone in her sister and leader's voice. It was a combination of authority and begging. Yang cursed her stubbornness for breaking and sighed.

"Fine, I'll try to meet you outside the city. Where exactly you thinking?" Yang huffed, but smiling when she heard the sigh of relief come from Ruby.

"Thank you, Yang. I am sending you the co-ordinates to your scroll. Stay safe. Love you sis,"

Yang smirked at the final comment. It was always a thing the sisters did, and it was somewhat amusing to Yang how even as the world detoriated rapidly outside, her sister still used that same way to end their conversations.

"Love you, Rubes," Yang quickly hung up, and turned around to see Weiss standing by the window. She was completely nude, with only a blanket covering her front. In happier times, Yang would have admired the view she had, but it was somewhat ruined by the look of utter despair Weiss had on her face. Yang rushed forward to Weiss.

"What the hell is going on?" Weiss whispered.

"I don't know, babe, but we need to go. We have to find Ruby and Blake." The names of her companions brought Weiss back to reality. Normally, Weiss would have made some form of protest. However, she simply nodded her head and ran to the wardrobe to get changed. Yang followed suit, and prepared herself for whatever may come. She even thought to pack a small travel suitcase. She didn't think this problem was going to solve itself over night.

After an hour of getting ready, Yang and Weiss were already on bumblebee and rushing to make contact with Ruby and Blake. The small travel suitcase was stored in a rather large compartment under the bike's seat, and Zwei was nestled safely under Weiss' coat. The white haired hugged Yang hard enough so that Zwei wouldn't slip out during the ride, but softly enough so that it wasn't uncomfortable for the poor dog. Both Yang and Weiss noticed bullhorns making tours around the city, some landing quickly to take on survivors, others just hovering and surveying the area. Despite the efforts that the military made, anarchy still ran rampant and Yang decided to use the smaller, less used roads to avoid an accident happening.

This truly seemed like the beginning of the end.

**oo0oo**

Cinder and her companions were marched outside to a large courtyard. They were all lined up in front of a firing squad, awaiting a death that would most surely come. General James Ironwood – the man who took it upon himself to make sure the death sentence went smoothly – was standing a few paces in front of the criminals.

"Cinder Fall of Vale, Mercury Black of Vacuo, Emerald Sustrai of Mistral, Roman Torchwick of Vale, you have committed crimes against Vytal and her people. The crimes you have committed are punishable by death. Do you have any final words?"

All of them remained silent, except for Roman, who started laughing darkly.

"You are making a big mistake, Ironwood,"

The general flashed a casual smirk, thinking Roman was just being his usual cocky self. But little did her know, Roman had one final trick up his sleeve, a trump card he had yet to play.

However, soon an alarm started ringing. This caused Ironwood and his soliders to rush back into the base. They had organised a serious of different alarms, each one had a different sound, signalling a different problem occurring. This one just happened to be the one for intruders. Ironwood was confident that Cinder and her accomplices had nowhere to go, considering they were all chained up to posts outside, and no one else was meant to be in the courtyard, bar the firing squad and himself.

What he didn't take into account was a fifth accomplice.

Neo.

Roman knew she was bound to bust them out. The alarm was simply a welcome change: it simply meant no blood had to be spilt. Sure enough, the small woman leaped over one of the walls surrounding the courtyard with the elegance and grace of a cat. She twirled her umbrella, and flashed a small smile at Roman, who returned it.

"I knew you wouldn't let me down, Neo"

Neo pulled her sword out of her umbrella and went about cutting the bonds that tied up all the criminals to their post. As soon as they were released, as if on queue, a single bullhorn flew into the courtyard. However, this wasn't a vessel owned by the military. It had a single sign painted on the side which signalled its true owners.

The white fang.

Cinder smiled to herself as the rear door of the bullhorn opened up and a ramp lay down. Even from behind bars, Adam Taurus continued to prove to be a valuable ally to Cinder. She and everyone else filed in quickly just as military robots rushed into the courtyard and started firing on the ship. But it was no use. The small rifle rounds did little to no damage to the Bullhorn's armour. Quickly, the giant aircraft rushed away to safety, and as Cinder Fall took her seat, already she began to plan her next move. However, Roman was slightly concerned. What exactly was it that had triggered the alarm in the base?

**oo0oo**

By the time Yang had met up with Ruby, it was already late evening. Yang thanked Ruby's choice of a meeting place. It was on a dirt track road in the middle of a forest outside of the city. Looking around, Yang wouldn't have thought the world was just starting to fall apart. The scenery was tranquil and beautiful. Noticing her baby sister, she rushed into Ruby and gave her a fierce hug. Ruby ignored the pain, simply glad to know her sister and Weiss had made it out of the city alright.

"I'm so glad you're ok," said Yang, tears slightly filling the brim of her eyelids and a huge smile on her face.

"So am I" Ruby smiled, gripping the back of Yang's jacket hard, and smiling just as hard as her elder sibling. As they broke apart, Ruby went to hug Weiss while Yang went to hug Blake, but they were all taken aback when they heard a yelp coming from Weiss' chest. A sudden realization dawning on her, she opened up her caught just as the ball of fur pounced and started attacking Ruby with his tongue. The sensation tickled Ruby and she couldn't help but giggle. Over Yang's shoulder, Blake watched as her sworn enemy attacked Ruby. I have to kiss that face you know, you mutt, Blake thought to herself.

"You didn't think we would leave out little baby now, would we? Nonono, mummy would never leave you, she loves you too much," Weiss said in her baby voice, scratching her little fur child as he continued to lick Ruby. Finally, Zwei had enough and hoped off. Suddenly, the light heartedness was replaced by the seriousness of what had happened that same morning.

"What's going on?" Asked Weiss, her voice surprisingly calm despite the severity of the situation. Yang shrugged.

"I don't know. All I know is that there are people just attacking other people and we need to sort this problem," Blake said in a sombre voice. However, Yang – forever one of the most optimistic of the four – simply smiled and said a statement which lightened the mood significantly.

"Don't worry, team RWBY has never failed before. Why should we start now?"

Everybody felt a surge of pride and an uplift from the truth of Yang's words. It was true. They never had failed a mission before, never found a problem they couldn't solve. However, Ruby held a thought in the back of her head, though she kept it to herself, not wishing to dampen moral. We have never dealt with a problem this big before, she thought.

"So, what's our next move, oh fearless leader Ruby?" Yang said, in her usual cheerful voice. Ruby stroked her chin as though in deep thought, and made a snap decision.

"We have to report to headquarters" she said. If there is anything left of it, she thought. All the girls gave a single nod, trusting their leader's judgment. They all went to the vehicles they had travelled in, with the exception of Zwei. Though he was a small dog, he was surprisingly intelligent and deemed the car to be more comfortable. As Ruby sat in the driver's seat and fired up the engine, the little dog curled himself on her lap and fell asleep. Smiling, Ruby stroked the dog's fur once and turned to the road, driving into the darkness, followed closely by Yang and Weiss.

_(Notes: Finally updated this story since I felt a sudden burst of inspiration. I hope you guys like it. I may edit Cinder's escape in the future, but for now, I am really pleased about how this chapter came out. I also feel proud as this is the longest chapter I have written for any of my stories, so YAY! Ok, so I have a question for you guys. Do I try and make it serious, so it has a 28 days later vibe? Or do I try and do the slightly comedic route and make it more like shaun of the dead? I honestly would absolutely love to either or for this story, so I need your guys' help. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am going to be putting this story on hiatus until I get the majority of my uni coursework out of the way. Until then, hope you guys enjoy and ADIOS!)_


	3. Chapter 3: New Developments

**Two days after the virus struck**

Cinder Fall thought that her narrow escape from general Ironwood's barracks was a sign that her luck had changed finally for the better.

But from where she sat now, she was questioning whether her luck had changed at all.

After Neo had staged the prison escape, Cinder had instantly commanded the White Fang to go to fly towards a complex of warehouses on the edge of the city that she knew would be abandoned, planning to use it as a base for future operations. There was so much that needed to be done. If she were to make a move against her enemy, she would need manpower. With her name, she could hire any gang or mercenary in the city, but the strongest and most powerful force was the White Fang…or at least what was left of them. Ever since RWBY apprehended their leader, many of the faunus went into hiding for safety. Only his highly ranked officers still fought for his cause, and were the same group who broke Cinder out of prison. If she wanted to rally the remnants of the fractured terrorist group to her cause, she would first have to break out Adam Taurus, and while she had the manpower to do it, she would steal need some preparation.

When the hijacked Bullhorn finally landed and the small group left the vehicle, it was just as Cinder had anticipated. Not a soul was in sight. Cinder grinned to herself. The complex was large to house a small army, and the warehouse buildings were large enough to at least house a few bullhorns. Now for the planning.

"Mercury, Emerald, Neo, I want you to explore these warehouses. See if there is anything still useful in them. Roman, hide the bullhorn in one of the largest warehouse. The rest of you, search the perimeter. Return to me when you are done."

Everybody dispersed and went to carry out their individual tasks. Cinder herself was busying herself. As she went into the bullhorn and patiently waited for Roman to set about storing the bullhorn, she already began setting out her plan, working out every possible plan for every possible scenario. Cinder was proud of her intelligence, especially her aptitude for strategy. If being captured by team RWBY taught her anything, it was to put in deeper planning to her strategy. Even the most crazy and inconceivable ideas ran through Cinder's head. She allowed herself absolutely no room for error.

She snapped herself from her thoughts when Roman parked the Bullhorn and powered down the engines. Instead of silence, she heard rifle fire coming from outside. Eager to see what the situation, she rushed from the aircraft, Roman jumping from the cockpit and following her close behind. The sound came from the entrance from the compound, and Cinder found that Mercury, Emerald and Neo were rushing towards the sound too. Normally, she would be angry that they weren't following orders, but gunfire in such an isolated place was a huge cause for concern. Sure enough, the group saw what was causing the commotion.

The White Fang members were firing upon a large group advancing towards the compound. Some bodies were scattered on the ground, bleeding.

But another thing Cinder noticed was that one of the lieutenants had a huge bite mark on their exposed arm. By the solider was the body of a faunus with bullet holes all over their body, most notably a single bullet hole through the back of its head. She ran up to the wounded solider, and grabbed him, making him stop firing.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Cinder shouted in his ear, making sure she could be heard over the gunfire.

"Ms Fall, we saw these… things coming towards us and-"

"THINGS?!" Cinder shouted back. She was about to go on a rant to the terrorist, but before she could say another word, the terrorist flipped the body over with his boot so he was face up, and Cinder understood what he meant.

What lay before Cinder was the corpse of a faunus. However, instead of looking like he died from the headshot that would've killed anyone else instantly, it looked like he had been dead for days. His skin was sickeningly pale and was starting to rot in some places. Where his left eye once was, there was a giant crater created by the bullet shot through his skull, and a small clean tunnel that showed the bloodstained ground underneath his head. The skin around his mouth was thickly layered in blood. What finally caught her attention was a human bite mark on his forearm.

This sent Cinder into a temporary panicked frenzy.

She had seen this once before.

Quickly, she calmed herself down, hoping the White Fang officer didn't notice her reaction. In a single fluid motion, she reached for the pistol that hung off the faunus' belt, and fired him directly in between his eyes. The officer didn't have enough time to react. The other terrorist members however noticed this and, sensing betrayal, they turned their weapons on Cinder and would have mowed her down had she not been a quicker shot than them. Sliding the pistol in her belt, she turned to see her comrades, all with surprised looks on their faces. Never losing her composure, she simply gave them a final order.

"This location isn't secure. Get to the bullhorn and move out, now."

Not waiting to see if they understood, Cinder rushed back towards the warehouse where the Bullhorn was. This furthermore surprised the rest of the group. They first looked at the rotting corpse, the White Fang members, and the disappearing form of Cinder Fall.

Cinder rarely ran anywhere, let alone sprint.

She was clearly spooked.

However, they didn't spend time pondering what the hell had frightened her and instead obeyed her orders. But before doing so, Roman looked back at the corpses and saw a waste. Being quick, he rushed towards the four recently killed White Fang members and the rotting corpse, swiftly checking their bodies for anything useful. Easily, he found four wallets full of money, as well as ammunition on the White Fang members. Pocketing the money within the wallets and the ammo, he picked up the terrorist's weapons easily, and went towards the Bullhorn. Guns were expensive in the black market, and though he was making a killing under Cinder's employment, he wanted to spend as little of his hard earned money as possible.

In the coming days, this would prove to be one of the smartest decisions that Roman Torchwick had ever made.

**oo0oo**

When Ruby and her team were contacted by Ozpin with a set of co-ordinates, they did not expect anything like this.

The co-ordinates led to a large military fortress in the nearby Grimm mountains, named so as it used to be a large breeding ground for the eternal enemies of humanity. However, with the species on the brink of extinction, it was a lot safer than it had been in the past. The fortress itself was a massive walled complex. The walls were made of solid steel and reached up fifty feet. On top of them were heavy automatic turrets and regular patrols. By the gate was a team of heavily armoured Vale soldiers, carrying heavy machine guns and all staring expectantly at the new arrivals. All of team RWBY got out of the Ruby and Blake's car and off of Yang's beloved bumblebee to confront the guards.

"HALT! State your business," One of the guards ordered, stepping towards the hunters.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, here to see professor Ozpin," At this, the guard pulled out a large, silver coloured scanning devise from his belt.

"I apologize, miss, but we are also going to have to run some biometric security on you,"

"But, professor Ozpin is expecting us, can't we just go in?"

"It is simply a precaution which we must do with everyone,"

Ruby, though surprised, shrugged at this.

"Yeah, sure, no problem,"

"We'll just need a photo of your eyes, a small blood sample and a hair sample,"

Nodding her head in understanding, the guard stuck the scanner up to Ruby's eyeball, and take a photo of Ruby's eyeball. Taking her hand, the guard took out a small needle, pricked her finger and fed it into a hall within the grip of the scanner. Finally, he took a single hair off Ruby's head, and inserted it into the computer to be analyzed. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the others, Yang silently laughed inside her head.

HAHAHAHA! Those guys can go fuck themselves, if they think they can touch my hair! She thought to herself, but even as she thought this, she gave a nervous scratch at the back of her head. Weiss noticed this motion. She rolled her eyes, taking a guess that Yang wasn't too pleased by this. Though she thought it was a childish thing to be worried about, she still slipped her hand through Yang's and gave a reassuring squeeze. Yang simply smiled at her, but the action spoke volumes to her. The guard waited a few seconds as the scanner processed the photo before a profile of Ruby pooped up on the screen.

"Name: Ruby Rose

Age: 20

Occupation: Lead Huntress, team RWBY, level six security clearance."

The guard looked away from the small computer screen and back up at Ruby, who stood there patiently.

"Sorry about that, Ms Rose. Welcome to Valhalla,"

"Thank you, but is it alright if I can wait for my team?"

"Of course. The process should take a couple of minutes at most,"

Ruby nodded, and let the guard carry out the process on Blake. Again, the computer gave out similar results to Ruby.

"Name: Blake Belladonna

Age: 23

Occupation: Huntress, team RWBY, Level five security clearance,"

The guard nodded once to Blake, and made his way towards Weiss, while Blake walked towards Ruby with a small grin on her face, Ruby met her eyes and looked at her curiously. She recognised that mischievous smile anywhere.

"What you smiling at?"

"Well, they need a hair sample, and I'm just thinking how Yang might react,"

Ruby froze at the idea. She had experienced first hand the wrath of Yang when her hair was even slightly damaged. The most recent case was when the team had been asked to hunt an extremely rare Draco Grimm, a large, fire breathing dragon. Yang got a little too close for comfort to the Draco. Luckily for her, only the ends of her hair got singed. Unluckily for the Draco, Yang had found a new favourite punch bag. Normally, Ruby would have pitied whatever or whoever touched Yang's hair, but the Draco got a quick, if not painful and violent, death.

"Oh shit, this is not going to-"

"TOUCH MY HAIR, WILL YOU?!"

"God damn it,"

**oo0oo**

Team RWBY stood outside of the fort's prison, waiting for Yang to be released by professor Ozpin. They had just paid a visit to the guard who had gotten too personal with Yang's hair. Three cracked ribs, a fractured jaw, and some heavy bruising was all the man had suffered. Luckily, Yang was able to be knocked out before she could do more damage. It had been close to three hours since they met up with Ozpin and explained the situation. He had ventured to the prison immediately, and was currently talking to the warden inside.

Ruby was worried for her sister, but was sure she would be fine in Ozpin's hands. She wished she had reacted quickly enough to stop the poor guard from attacking Yang's hair, but was sure it would all be fine.

Weiss was ready to have a full fledged lecture with her new fiancé. It was one thing to be uncomfortable about people touching your hair. It was another when you beat down a poor man for doing his job, even if it happened to concern said hair.

Blake was using years and years of trained willpower not to roll on the floor, cackling to death. The reaction she saw was more priceless than she could've imagined. She felt bad for the guard, of course, but Yang's hair induced rage always got her.

Finally, the automatic doors of the prison opened up, to reveal professor Ozpin and Yang, who was smiling sheepishly at her team. Ruby and Blake smiled at the two of them, but were sure to cover their ears when they noticed a very angry Weiss storming towards Yang. This did very little to protect their eardrums.

"YOU UNBELIEVEABLE OAF! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU JUST DID?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU PUT YOURSELF IN?! DO YOU REALIZE YOU ASSAULTED AN ENLISTED SOLDIER?! YOU'RE AN IDIOT, YANG XIAO LONG!"

Yang chuckled to herself, and looked down at her furious fiancé.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot. Foreverrrrrr." Yang said, a clear smile on her face and in her voice as she lifted up her hand and pointed to her engagement ring. Weiss started sputtering and tripping over herself, unable to form any articulate words.

"If you are quite done, Ms Schnee, I would like to speak with you all in private," Ozpin said in his usual monotone voice, smiling slightly. Forgetting that her superior was there, Weiss straightened herself and replied in a calm voice.

"I sincerely apologize, Professor. That was rather unprofessional with me. I shall continue my discussion with my fiancé in private later,"

Ozpin nodded, and walked away, but not before throwing a casual comment to Yang.

"I don't envy you right now, Ms Xiao Long,"

"Ah, she loves me! I'll be fine, Ozzy!"

Ozpin, Ruby and Blake all smirked as Weiss restarted lecturing her fiancé at a dangerous volume, before Weiss – after a good solid ten minutes – ran out of steam.

"Are you done?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah, I think we are done," Yang replied.

"OH, WE ARE SO NOT DONE!" Weiss shouted back at the same time.

"Good, then follow me please," Ozpin said, with a tone of finality.

_(Notes: I know it's been a while since I wrote a chapter for this and I sincerely apologize. I hope it isn't too short. I will be going more into fort_ _Valhalla and how Cinder encountered the infection in the past. I hope you guys like this chapter, I will see you in the next one, and ADIOS!) _


	4. Chapter 4: One Hell of a Party

**Eight days after the virus struck**

Gunshots rang throughout the small bar, shattering and splintering anything that stood in the way of the gunfire, covering team RWBY and team CFVY in a mixture of shattered glass, wooden splinters and all manner of booze. For the moment, they were safe

"YOU FUCKERS! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH GOOD BOOZE YOU ARE WASTING?!" Yang shouted above the gunfire, taking a healthy gulp out of a bottle of grey goose which she rescued before the fire fight broke out.

"FIRST OF ALL, IT'S YOUR FAULT WE'RE IN HERE!" Weiss shouted to her fiancé, carefully avoiding the broken glass surrounding them. "SECOND OF ALL, HOW CAN YOU BE DRINKING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!"

"GEE, I DON'T KNOW, WEISS! THUGS POP OUT OF GOD KNOWS WHERE, THEIR GUNFIRE IS PROBABLY BRINGING IN MORE ZOMBIES AS WE SPEAK, SMALL CHANCE OF SURVIVAL, HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU NOT BE DRINKING?! BESIDES, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY! EVERY DROP OF ALCOHOL IS A DROP OF BLOOD!" Yang shouted back, before taking another dose of vodka, risking a look over the bar to try and analyse the situation before quickly being forced down again. Hyperventilating from the fact she very nearly took a bullet to the face, she took another gulp of vodka, wincing slightly at the bittersweet burn.

"YOU HAVE DEALT WITH LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF GRIMM! WHAT MAKES THIS SITUATION ANY DIFFERENT?!" Blake shouted at her partner, massaging her ears. Between the arguing couple, the glass exploding and the overwhelming gunfire, her sensitive Faunus ears were numb with pain.

"I HAVEN'T HAD A LITERAL STOCKPILE OF DRINK ON ME TO TAKE THE EDGE OFF!" Yang shouted.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, YOU'VE MADE YOUR POINT! BUT YOU COULD AT LEAST WAIT AFTER THE MISSION BEFORE YOU HIT THE DRINK!" Weiss barked, loading an explosive round into Myrtenaster and firing it out into the assaulting group.

"WILL YOU TWO JUST FUCK ALREADY?! JESUS CHRIST, QUIT THE BICKERING!" Coco shouted at the arguing couple, before blind firing with her gatling gun, satisfied when she heard one of the thugs scream in pain.

"WHAT?!" The yellow and white counterparts of the couple shouted to Coco.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I think I hear something….they are slowing down on firing…they've stopped," Fox spoke out, suddenly getting very worried.

"That's good news though, right?" Asked Yang, shaking the bottle of grey goose to check the weight of it, surprised to find it was still half full.

"Nope," Ruby – who had popped up over the bar and looked out into the street through the sight of her beloved Crescent Rose, her eyes going wide in shock. She crouched back down, laughing nervously. "Hehehe…ok…so do you guys want the good news first or the bad news?"

"Out with it, Ruby," Weiss ordered impatiently, trying to wipe off the broken glass that covered her dress and the spirits that were beginning to seep into the fabric of her outfit.

"Ok…WELLLLL, the good news is the bad guys are dead. The bad news is they are being munched on by a horde of those!"

Each member of team CFVY and RWBY popped their eyes above the bar, regretting their decision. Ruby was right. The largest horde they had seen yet was surrounding the bar and eating the still screaming corpses of the thugs.

"Ok…" Coco crouched back down and tried to slow her breathing as she thought up a solution to their rapidly growing problem. "If we sneak out, we can climb up to the roof of this bar, maybe we can get extracted before the horde knows we are here,"

"They've spotted us," Blake said in a monotone voice, as though she accepted the fact that the situation could only get worse from here.

"THEN FUCKING RUN TO THE ROOF!" Coco barked, as each of the hunters and huntresses pushed themselves up to their feet and sprinted up the stairs behind at the back of the bar. This whole time, Yang gulped down the remainder of her vodka. Or at least, attempted to before her fiancé whacked the bottle out of her hand, smashing it into a million pieces and smiling the remaining booze on the wall.

"HEY! That's like thirty/ forty lien a bottle!"

"It's your fault we are here in this mess!" Weiss argued as she continued running up the stairs.

"First of all, Ozpin sent us here, not me. Second of all, that was a whole bunch of free booze no one was touching," Yang replied drunkenly, stumbling slightly before retaking her sprint up the stairs as the vodka started to slowly take its toll on her.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP?!" The other members shouted at the couple. Coco – being the elder leader of the two teams – took charge. Firing up a flare, she commanded the other team members

"Ok, if you two are done, barricade the door with anything you can find. Once you have done that, get ready for them. If we are lucky, extraction will pick us up soon,"

"And if we are unlucky?" Weiss asked, picking a bottle of whiskey that Yang had stashed in one of her pockets. Despite the blonde's protests at the market price of this particular brand, Weiss threw it into the horde of zombies and fired a red spark from Myrtenaster at it, hitting it perfectly. The bottle exploded, dousing the zombies below in fire.

"Then we're fucked! Just hold the line as best as you can!"

**oo0oo**

**Three Hours Earlier**

The vertibird that carried team RWBY and team CFVY dropped them off in an isolated section of town, before quickly taking off, leaving the two teams to sweep up the area.

"Why are we doing this again?" Yang asked, as she slowly and thoroughly scanned the area, bouncing on her toes, ready to attack at the first encounter. "I mean, I get that it's our job to protect the people, but this seems more like a job for the military,"

"The soldiers are busy trying to suppress the threat, and secure the kingdoms as soon as possible." Coco stated. She had spotted two of the infected and made short work of them with her weapon in its briefcase form. "They're stretched pretty thin This area is too dangerous for the right now. Our job is to go deep into the cities and extract any survivors before the military sweeps through."

"Dangerous? I can count the number of these guys on my fingers!" Yang laughed, as she punched a single zombie in the face, her shotgun blast splattering its head.

"Don't underestimate the enemy," Yatsuhashi stated simply, surveying the area. "And keep your gunshots to minimum. It draws them in,"

Sighing, Yang jogged towards the other members of the strike team who were grouping up together. "Yeah, I know, I know…sorry, big guy,"

"Thirteen hundred hours, landing successful, area secure. Beginning sweep now," Ruby spoke into her recorder. Ever since military squads and huntsman started turning up dead because of the outbreak, it became mandatory for each squad to take a recording of their mission, should it fail.

"Any idea where we should start?" Fox ask.

"Maybe we should sweep each block, check out every building?" Blake asked.

"Sounds like a solid plan, let's go," Coco shrugged.

**oo0oo**

"People fortify themselves in bars in times of crisis. I mean, come on, have you not seen Shaun of the Dead?" Yang asked as she dragged a huge dumpster in front of the door with Ruby's assistance.

"I was with you that time we all watched it together. Did you not see the ending?" Ruby asked, as she activated the brakes on the large dumpster.

"Nah, I kind of fell asleep at the bit where they start fighting the zombies…"

"THEY DIE, YANG! THEY ALL DIED!" Weiss screamed, as she lobbed the last of Yang's commandeered booze onto the zombies below. Her plan did a good job of taking care of a vast majority of the horde that were outside, but it didn't do much to solve the problem that was currently banging at the door.

"Really? Oh fuck!" Yang drunkenly said, thinking to herself about how badly she screwed up.

"Well, everyone except Simon Pegg and Kate Ashfield," Ruby stated, loading fire filled rounds into Crescent Rose and firing the large sniper at any infected Weiss' bombs missed, also speaking into her recorder. "Sixteen oh nine hours, trapped above The Black Nevermore bar. Awaiting extraction."

"Hey…is that a bullhead?" Yang mumbled, pointing up to the sky.

"I AM HARDLY GOING TO TRUST THE WORD OF SOMEONE WHO JUST DOWNED A BOTTLE OF-" Weiss began to lecture, before being cut off by Coco.

"THAT'S OUR EXTRACTION! LET'S GO, GO, GO!" Coco ordered aloud, as each member of team RWBY and team CFVY.

"See? I told you so!" Yang snickered at Weiss, before getting a well earned smack at the back of her head.

**That next morning**

"Ironwood didn't seem too happy," Ruby pointed out, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"What do you expect? We were the only ones from team RWBY who bothered showing up for the debriefing," Blake replied.

"Yeah, where is Weiss by the way?"

**oo0oo**

"Good morning, Yang," Weiss whispered in a sing song voice, waking up Yang a cup of steaming hot tea before crouching next to her.

"Morning, babe…ow, my head….what happened yesterday?" Yang asked as she picked up the cup that was sat on her bedside table, blowing it gently. Her semblance protected her from serious burns, but she still liked to blow on her tea and coffee out of habit. She gently took a sip, and sprayed it out, violently rubbing at her tongue. "WHAT DID YOU PUT IN THIS? IT TASTES HORRID!"

"Now, how can you say that? After all, you endangered us on the mission yesterday, and here I am, making you a cup of tea the way you like, milk and two salts…oh wait, was it sugar you liked? I'm ever so sorry, honey" Weiss commented, her voice dripping of dry sarcasm and false sweetness, before lasing out in her usual lecturing tone. "You could have gotten us all killed with your stupidity,"

Yang sighed, rubbing her temples. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry…I just got a little bit freaked out, is all. As soon as I saw that convoy roll up, I thought I was going to be shot down. Or worse, you…I couldn't handle that,"

Weiss sighed, and leaned over to kiss her love gently on the lips, somewhat actually liking the taste of salt on Yang's lips.

"I promised you when we got engaged that I would never leave you. No matter what." Weiss whispered softly, before climbing into bed and wrapping up Yang in her arms. "I swear to you,"  
**  
oo0oo**

"I bet you any money Yang has got our little ice queen wrapped around her finger," Blake smirked.

"I don't know, maybe Weiss is teaching her a lesson. She screwed up pretty badly yesterday," Ruby said.

"Yeah, but we were all scared," Blake pointed out, before pondering to herself a bit, her ears twitching with thought. "Come to think of it, who were those guys that attacked us yesterday?"

**oo0oo**

Cinder poured endless amounts of thought into her plans. She needed constant updates so that she could adjust her plan for any scenario. Which is why every time she sent a fire team out into the city for missions, she placed cameras on the uniforms of each member she sent out, each one playing live footage on a different screen. Yesterday, almost of her fire and extraction teams came home successful.

With the exception of one.

No matter, she thought herself, probably just a horde got the better of them. As she was about to mark down the area she lost contact with her team as "HIGH DANGER", Adam walked calmly into the room with a scroll.

"What is it, Adam?" Cinder asked, not in the mood for chit-chat.

"I had a look over team Gamma's live footage before we lost contact with them, and I found something that might interest you." He gently placed the scroll on the desk next to her, and replayed the footage. Cinder glanced over, slightly disinterested, until she noticed who the cameras were pointed at.

Grinning to herself, she sent Adam away and reorganized her plan.

Well, she thought to herself, looks like there are more pawns on the board than I thought.

(Notes: Finally updated. Im sorry about the quality, I thought I would give a sort of filler chapter with a little bit of plot since I haven't touched this story in a while. Im sorry if you guys don't think its as good as the other chapter, but I will try to make future ones better and to post more regularly after the new year. Hope you guys enjoy and ADIOS!)


	5. Chapter 5: Setting The Board

**Fourteen days after the virus struck**

"Ok, so the search and rescue option was aborted because of an assault from a third party?" Ironwood inquired, looking over the the reports which Ozpin had handed him, peaking up from the paperwork.

"Yes. According to statements both from Team RWBY and Team CFVY, a heavily armoured convoy rolled up and started firing upon them when they were exploring Vale City Centre." Ozpin stated, pacing the length of the desk slowly, never taking his eyes off of Ironwood.

"Rogue military units?" Ironwood asked again, quickly scanning through the report once again.

"Most likely mercenaries. They didn't care any recognizable insignia or anything else to give them away." Ozpin said, calm as ever, though under his relaxed demeanour, his constantly calculating mind already started to work out a solution to solve this new problem. If they had enough firepower to keep two groups of hunters pinned down, that suggested that they were backed by a party who had an immense amount of resources and funds. However, if they couldn't hold off the infected and attack the hunters at the same time, perhaps they lacked numbers or effective training. Still, they were a threat to be reckoned with.

"I'll hand this over to intelligence, they'll look through the databases for any criminal organizations that may be able to stage an attack like this," Ironwood said, calmly stacking the reports back into a neat pile. "But I think I may have an idea who it is," Ozpin raised an eyebrow, as Ironwood reached into his desk and pulled out four separate reports, sliding them across toward Ozpin, who studied them deeply.

Cinder Fall. Roman Torchwick. Mercury Black. Emerald Sustrai. Now the pieces were starting to fall together. Cinder had the means to gather people under her wing, Roman had the ability of gathering equipment.

"If I understand correctly, weren't these four supposed to be staged for execution the day the virus struck?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes. Remarkable coincidence, don't you think?"

"Hmm, yes," Ozpin nodded his head, as Ironwood passed him over more intel, this time a set of photos. A stolen Bulkhead and a small platoon of White Fang soldiers.

"I take it it was too much to hope for the disbanding," Ironwood sighed, rubbing his temples. "I hate those terrorists. Just another thing to make our jobs harder."

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, James, though I can't help but agree their methods are unorthodox, especially during this crisis." Ozpin sighed, and made his way towards the exit of Ironwood's office, determined to find any way to resolve this conflict as quickly as he could.

**oo0oo**

Blake Belladonna was used to being pulled up at random occasions by professor Ozpin. Even though she never disclosed it, she was sure her headmaster was aware of her faunus heritage and her past affiliation with the extremist group, the White Fang. It didn't particularly bother her. As a matter of fact, she enjoyed Ozpin's presence. However, she didn't appreciate the way he would try to tease a subject out of her. Not to mention this military office was a lot less comforting then Ozpin's old office at Beacon. She was more comfortable with directness.

However, what she heard from Ozpin's mouth, even though it was to be expected, eventually still was a surprise to her.

"Ms Belladonna, did you hear me?" Ozpin asked, his voice full of genuine kind concern, his head propped up against the back of his hand. Though his voice gave off concern, his dark eyes pierced through Blake, as if it were searching for something.

"Yes, sir," She said, careful to hide her worry. At this, he smiled at her and nodded his head once.

"I understand that this secret must be of particular discomfort to you. I shall not press, but any and all information you provide will be of the most vital importance," Ozpin quietly explained. " You don't have to make a decision straight away..."

"No...it's alright..." Bake sighed. Had the headmaster tried to bring her White Fang past when she first started at Beacon, she would have denied it with all her will. However, experience taught her that withheld information could sometimes prove to be dangerous, especially to fellow comrades. Too many times had her teammates nearly got hurt when confronting a member of the White Fang.

Ozpin nodded his head once again. He removed the hand supporting his head, and leaned down into a drawer behind his desk, coming back up with a recording scroll, before looking at Blake.

"Don't worry, this isn't an interrogation," he dryly joked, though it didn't do much to relax an already tense Blake. "This is merely for personal reference. Whenever you are ready, Ms Belladonna."

Blake nodded once, and Ozpin clicked a button on the scroll.

o**o0oo**

Cinder filed through her own share of her reports, and they were fairly more successful than she first anticipated. There were obviously significant losses, but the White Fang and other mercenary and criminal groups were quickly and efficiently pushing back the hordes from the outskirts of the city, and therefore spreading the influence of their cause. Any survivors they found were collected, and helped out with the cause however they could, in exchange for food, water and protection. Some of them were reported even being somewhat happier under Cinder's rule than the old government.

But there was another point of concern for Cinder, which she refused to face.

This wasn't the first time she had encountered the infected hordes.

She always dreamt about it and couldn't drive it out of her head.

It was supposed to be a normal Grimm clean up. A settlement to the far east of Vale, well beyond the protection of the city's walls. A simple search and destroy.

However, they found the town overrun by them.

Her team was wiped out against an enemy they didn't know how to fight. The extraction didn't arrive until a week after the emergency beacon was activated. It was only due to persistence and sheer willpower that Cinder survived at all. When she returned to the city, despite telling the truth, she was dishonourably discharged and forced to retire as huntress.

She never found out why she was discharged, or where the infected came from.

Yet she swore to herself she would find out, if it was the last thing she would do.

"Cinder, another shipment has arrived," Emerald called out through the door, snapping Cinder out of the thoughts of her tormented past.

"Be out in a minute," Cinder replied, tiding up her reports before getting up and leaving.

**oo0oo**

"YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF THIS!" Screamed out a voice on the intercom. A single lone figure watched and listened as a member of Schnee private military pounded on the door, desperate to get away from the approaching infected. He had run out of ammunition, and could do nothing more to defend himself. The lone figure even noted a red bite mark stain against the snow white uniform of the private force.

"YOU RELEASED THE VIRUS! WHY?! WHY- no...NO! NO GOD, PLEASE NO! GAAHHHH-" As the solider continued to escape, the hordes finally caught up to him, tearing and biting into his flesh, his armour providing little resistance. The lone figure smiled evilly before picking up a phone by his desk.

"Please activate the automated defence systems, and take of the bodies," The figure ordered gruffly before putting the phone back down and getting to work. Silly fool, he thought to himself, he should've known he was sworn to secrecy. Now, to find Weiss and Winter...

(Notes: I apologize this took so long. I know this chapter is kinna filler, but I've tried to advance the plot as best as I could. I hope you guys enjoy this. If you do like it, please feel free to follow and favorite this story, and check out my other ones. If you really like it, please feel free to check out my p-a-t-r-e-o-n at the link below, it would help me out a lot. Thanks again and ADIOS!)


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